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SIR – Any solicitor drafting a will based on Sharia law should advise the client that the will may be challenged and its provisions set aside under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

Under the Act, a claim may be made against a deceased’s person’s estate irrespective of the claimant’s religion. Potential claimants comprise the members of the deceased’s family, including a spouse or civil partner, or former spouse or civil partner, who has not remarried and any person who was being wholly or partly maintained by the deceased before the death.

Any solicitor not advising the client of this would be negligent.

Jane Barham Carter Godalming, Surrey

Starting school young

SIR – My great-granddaughter was four last August, and started in reception class at her local state school last September. Some of her classmates are nearly a year older than her (Letters, March 22).

This has not held her back; in fact, it has inspired her to the extent that at her recent parents’ day, her teacher said she was in the top half-dozen of her year group. She has developed in every aspect: reads, writes, can do simple maths, and one can hold a near-adult conversation with her.

Ian Boylett London N9

Watch what you wear

SIR – A diver’s only reliable timepiece used to be a bulky Rolex Submariner. This had a protruding, guarded button that dug deeply into your hand, so it was deemed sensible to wear the watch in reverse on the right wrist. The habit has stayed with me.

John Dawson Blandford Forum, Dorset

SIR – I remember people wearing a watch on each wrist during military exercises in Germany. One was used for “exercise time”, and the other for “wives’ time”.

Colonel J A Baker Salisbury, Wiltshire

Behind the Borisisms

SIR – May I request a short dictionary of Borisisms? His article contained the gorgeous verb “tinkle-plinked”.

I would like to know its exact meaning so that I may incorporate this word, at suitable moments, into my vocabulary.

Carol Farrand Modbury, Devon

British sea power

SIR – Lord Dannatt’s remarks on the importance of continuing to maintain a British Army garrison in Germany are to be expected. The Army establishment continues to seek a raison d’être for a large force, and somewhere foreign to put it.

Those days should be over. The transfer of American forces from Europe to Asia will leave a big naval gap in the Mediterranean. American carriers will be a rare sight. Our resources would be better spent forward-basing major surface units at Gibraltar to complement the four American navy destroyers based at Rota, near Cadiz.

The more we spend on sea power, the less we will need to spend on troops on the ground. Britain has not had a prime minister who has valued sea power since James Callaghan. Do not expect another one until there has been a sea change in British politics.

Mark Harland Scarborough, North Yorkshire

Babies of the House

SIR – In his blog, Peter Oborne praised the extraordinary life of Roy Jenkins and cited age as a major reason for the “dullness of the modern generation”.

Yet Roy Jenkins first stood for Parliament aged 24 and became the youngest MP in the House at the age of 27, following his victory in the 1948 Southwark by-election. This is hardly exceptional – many of our great statesmen and characters went into politics at an early age.

William Gladstone entered Parliament aged 22, the third Marquess of Salisbury was elected at 23, while Winston Churchill, Arthur Balfour and Tony Benn were only 25 when they first sat in the Commons.

It would appear that fault for the alleged dullness of modern politics lies in the character, rather than the age, of those who stand for Parliament.

In her left hand was a small dog on a lead, trotting along with her. She was listening to music on her headphones, and she appeared to be texting someone using only her right hand.

Bob Farey Kettering, Northamptonshire

How two ships destroyed each other in wartime

SIR – Michael Montgomery is wrong to say that the loss of the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney on November 19 1941 is still unexplained. David Mearns, the undersea search expert, found her wreck in 2008, ending 60 years of mystery and conspiracy theory.

In fact, the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran was well equipped to take on warships like Sydney. She was heavily armed with 6in (15 cm) guns, as well as anti-tank and heavy machine guns, and torpedoes. Her success in sinking Sydney is also down to the element of surprise.

Her captain lured the light cruiser into near-point blank range (900 yards) by getting his chief signalman to return recognition signals by flag, and slowly. Captain Detmers reinforced the element of surprise by opening the action with salvoes aimed directly at Sydney’s bridge – his standard tactic (Kormoran’s concealed guns could be brought into action almost instantly.) This tactic meant that tragically, within 20 seconds of the start of the battle, Sydney’s command team were probably all lost, and it wasn’t long before her forward A and B turrets – and gunnery control – were out of action too. Sydney did return independent fire with her aft X and Y turrets, fatally wounding Kormoran by starting an uncontrollable fire; and though she was grievously hurt, her surviving crew fought on with great courage for nearly an hour, before she drifted away ablaze, and sank. Sadly there were no survivors. Kormoran’s remaining crew abandoned her shortly before she blew up.

David Mearns was awarded the Order of Australia for his outstanding achievement. His account of his discovery can be read in his book The Search for the Sydney.